Friday 27 February 2015

THE RENEWABLE ENERGY HOME HANDBOOK

Step-by-step guide to choosing, using and installing all leading types of renewable energy for the home.

An interview with the author Lindsay Porter …




The Renewable Energy Home Handbook is biased towards the practical, and covers the installation of all leading types of alternative domestic energy sources – from ground- and air-source heat pumps, PV solar electricity generation and solar water heating, to bio-mass domestic heating systems and wind turbines. Discussing the pros and cons of each technology, it also provides you with a clear overview of what’s genuinely required and the benefits to be gained from each system.
The author, Lindsay Porter, is best known for his books on motor vehicle technology, making car mechanics and body repairs easy to understand and carry out. But alternative energy and conservation have long been a passion for him and his wife, Shan, so this manual is very much a labour of love. Here, Lindsay applies his commitment to making difficult subjects easy for everyone to understand to the money-saving – planet-saving – systems we can apply to our homes.

For more information, please visit our brand new Veloce Eco website.

FAMOUS AUTOMOTIVE QUOTES

"Turbochargers are for people who can't build engines." – Keith Duckworth

“I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself.” – Professor Ferdinand Porsche

"To finish first, you must first finish." – Juan Manuel Fangio

"When you're racing it's life. Anything that happens before of after ... it's just waiting." – Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen in Le Mans)

"To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster." – Sir Stirling Moss

"I am not designed to come second or third. I am designed to win" – Ayrton Senna

"Auto racing began 5 minutes after the second car was built." – Henry Ford


Tuesday 24 February 2015

DORSET FROM THE SEA AVAILABLE NOW

One man and his boat ... and his camera.



The visual feast that is Dorset is enjoyed by millions, visitors, locals, or through printed and virtual media. But few are lucky enough to enjoy the coastline 'from the outside looking in'.
This book has been photographed entirely from the sea by sailor and marine photographer Steve Belasco who has cruised the area in small boats for over 20 years.
His love of Dorset's waters, those who enjoy and the people and creatures that depend on them, comes shining through.


Steve has been a professional photographer since 1982, being awarded Associateships of both the Royal Photographic Society and British Institute of Professional Photography. He has Royal Yachting Association qualifications in sailing and powerboating.
For the past 26 years he has worked for Dorset’s daily and weekly newspapers and monthly magazines as both a photographer and journalist.
Steve has lived in South Dorset for 26 years and he and his wife Josie and sons Louis and Tristan have their own motorboat berthed in Portland Harbour.


Dorset from the sea – The Jurassic Coast from Lyme Regis to Old Harry Rocks photographed from its best viewpoint by Steve Belasco, with a foreword by Dame Ellen MacArthur is available now in large format and souvenir edition.

A proportion of proceeds will be donated to the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.

Friday 6 February 2015

FRANCE: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR CAR ENTHUSIASTS – NEW BOOK, eBOOK, APPS AND DEDICATED WEBSITE

Love cars? Love France? Yes? Then you'll love this brand new book! France: the essential guide for car enthusiasts is an invaluable companion for every trip through France.
Divided into five regions – Paris & the Île-de-France, Western France, Southern France, Central France & the Alps, and North-East France – each chapter contains a wealth of detailed information for the auto enthusiast. With sections on museums, classic and modern car shows, automobilia, buying car parts, historic and modern motorsport events, and race circuits.
Whether you prefer vintage models, or the latest sports cars, you’ll find 200 ideas for places to see and events you can take part in inside this unique guide to France. Covering everything automotive, this handbook-sized paperback has 248 full colour pages packed with useful information and essential data and a recommended retail price of £14.99 (UK).


Each event/venue entry features a QR code which can be read by a smartphone to access the relevant website for bang up-to-date information. The book is linked to a dedicated website featuring updates, a news blog about automotive events, an events calendar, and free down-loadable POI (points of interest) files for your satnav device.
A uniquely versatile package, the book is also available in eBook form and as five regional apps with links to websites, ‘phone numbers and navigational information. The eBook has a guide price of £9.99 (UK), while the individual apps each have a guide price of £2.29 (UK).


The eBook and apps are available from your favourite vendors for all major digital platforms and devices.
Note: those buying the physical book on Amazon can opt to receive the eBook version free by selecting that option.



Meet the team behind the book! Left to right: Joe Russell (app and eBook creation), Kevin Atkins (print edition layout and production), Julian Parish (author) and Rod Grainger (publisher).

A passionate Francophile, Julian Parish grew up in southern England but soon crossed the Channel to France, where he has now lived for nearly twenty years. Julian has owned a range of British and American sports cars from the 1960s onwards, and has been an active member of clubs dedicated to MG and to the Ford Mustang. It was with these clubs that he first visited many of the places described in France: the essential guide for car enthusiasts, and began to write features for magazines and online. Julian has also been a successful publisher of travel guides and language learning materials. Check out the latest video on our YouTube channel ...



Monday 2 February 2015

1955-2015: DS CELEBRATES ITS 60TH ANNIVERSARY AT RÉTROMOBILE


In its first year as a brand in its own right, DS will be at the 40th Rétromobile show in Paris next week, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the original 1955 DS. From 4 to 8 February 2015, car lovers can enjoy a stroll around the DS area at the Parisian Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre for an enthralling look back at the legendary DS.

The DS exhibition, organised with support from the Amicales Citroën* associations along with DS and SM** enthusiasts' clubs, will include five prestige period models, plus one of the latest arrivals for the DS brand, DS 3 Cabrio, in Ultra Prestige form.

The Rétromobile show in Paris is a major international fixture on the vintage car calendar. The event celebrates its 40th anniversary as the original DS marks 60 years since its début appearance at the 1955 Paris Motor Show.


In its first year as a brand in its own right, DS has an area at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre, providing an enthralling look back at the legend that is DS. The DS exhibition, organised with invaluable support from Citroën enthusiasts' clubs, will feature five period models plus one of the latest arrivals in the DS brand line-up, DS 3 Cabrio Ultra Prestige.

The period cars on show will provide visitors with an insight into the exceptional heritage that inspires today's DS brand in its quest to offer customers the very best in design, technology, comfort, driving experience, quality materials and outstanding attention to detail.

The stars of the show are:

DS 19 from 1959, in its original configuration, with a grey-rosé body, aubergine roof, and royal blue interior. This model, adapted for export to Germany, features an engine temperature gauge on the dashboard plus an FM/LW radio. The three-main-bearing engine is coupled with a four-speed gearbox with hydraulic control.
DS 21 Cabriolet from 1968, with a hydraulic-control gearbox. The superb finish on this exceptionally elegant model extends to red leather upholstery, contrasting with the Carrare white body.
DS 20 Pallas from 1973, a top-end luxury model featuring tobacco leather upholstery, beige Tholonet bodywork, tinted windows and even a sunroof. The 1985 cm3 engine is mated to a hydraulically controlled four-speed synchromesh gearbox.
SM Coupé from 1971, previously owned by King Hassan II of Morocco. This model features metallic beige paintwork, special registration plates, natural leather upholstery, air conditioning, a Continental Edison Hi-Fi radio specific to this model, tinted windows and fog lamps. The engine is a Maserati V6.
SM Coupé from 1972, a model with a Scarabée brown body and light brown upholstery. In addition to the self-levelling hydraulic suspension, similar to that on the DS, this car also boasts Citroën's innovative DIRAVI ‘power-assisted return’ steering, for exceptional driveability.
Alongside these iconic cars, visitors will also be able to admire the DS 3 Cabrio Ultra Prestige on the show stand.

Rétromobile opens to the public on Wednesday 4 February 2015, with the DS showroom in Hall 1.

– Available from Veloce –

eBook only!

Citroën DS – Design Icon by Malcolm Bobbitt

In-depth look at Citroen's idiosyncratic DS, for fifty years a design icon and one of the world's most controversial, radical, idiosyncratic and technically advanced motorcars.

More info.

Citroén DS & ID - The Essential Buyer's Guide by Rudy Heilig

Guides collectors, restorers and enthusiasts through the various production changes and problem areas that occur between the various models, to make sure that the restoration or prospective purchase is correct, original, and legitimate. This book is an essential reference tool that can be used when buying, selling, repairing or restoring the various D-models manufactured between 1966 and 1975. One hundred colour photos, useful appendices and expert advice mean that this book could save you thousands! More info.